Transactions 21
Has been acquired by
Situation
Sanuk USA was founded by Jeff Kelley in 1998. Two years later, the growth of the Sanuk brand was outpacing Jeff’s and his partner’s, Ian Kessler, resources. Sanuk USA entered a long-term licensing agreement with C&C Partners, Ltd for the North American and European territories. Dac Clark and Paul Carr, the founders of C&C, and their employees helped Jeff and Ian build Sanuk into one of the strongest performing sandal and casual footwear brands in the Action Sports and Outdoor markets. Sanuk established a loyal base of consumers by providing extraordinarily comfortable footwear with unique styling while maintaining a fun and irreverent brand message.
The meteoric growth of the Sanuk brand in the US and the growth potential in International markets led the owners of Sanuk USA and C&C Partners to seek out a partner. The owners wanted to identify a partner with sufficient resources to propel the Sanuk brand in new product categories and geographic markets.
Solution
We were engaged to find a partner that recognized the current value and saw the future potential of the Sanuk brand. We modeled the Licensee and Licensor as one business for several historical and future years. Next, we and its clients prepared a Confidential Information Memorandum and Management Presentation. We approached several Private Equity and Strategic buyers and managed a process to maximize shareholder value and to identify the ideal partner.
“We were impressed
with the Hexagon team’s strategic advice and skills in negotiating and managing the diligence process. With their guidance, we were able to achieve a strong valuation and successful outcome for our team and shareholders.”
Bart DeClark
Flavor Infusion International, S.A.
President